Today we are making it easier to have conversations on Shapeways. Now, when your username is @mentioned in a model comment, you will receive a notification. If you @mention someone's username they will also receive a notification. It's the best way to have a conversation with a designer or to recommend a product to someone else in the Shapeways community.
You can view your most recent mentions by clicking on the @ notifications icon next to your profile image in the top navigation bar.

Have you come across a product you wish could be customized for you? @mention the designer's username to start a conversation with them. They will receive a notification about your mention and soon you could have a product designed just for you.

As a Shop Owner, have some of your potential customers had questions? When a customer @mentions your username you will receive a notification and can start the conversation right away.

Found the perfect product for a friend? Let them know by @mentioning their username in a comment. They'll receive a notification with your recommendation.

This is only the first step towards a more social experience on Shapeways and there are many more to come. Our goal is to empower our community with the ability to make anything possible - and we believe a big step towards making that happen is improving the ability to communicate with each other. You've told us you wanted it to be easier to have conversations on Shapeways and we listened. We're excited for you to start a conversation; go start one today and tell us about your experience with this new feature in the comments below!

Paul thanks for the feedback. Absolutely agreed. We definitely want to give you the ability to define the way you want to be notified and improve the way we communicate with you via e-mail. This is something we recognize and are working on.

The model pages also need a 'report spam' (or whatever) button that removes the visability of the comment until such time that it is established that there's a numpty spammer such as pshopshop leaving spam comments

Up until about 4 years ago ebay used to allow sellers to leave negative comments for buyers.
You know ebay - they're just a venue - buyers can leave negative comments, but sellers cannot.
ebay do not allow buyers' negative comments to be removed uless there is an underlaying legal reason (breach of t&c's).

Shapeways environment is a bit different to ebay.

The designer is not the seller - Shapeways is.

Any negative comments (imo) should not be left on a model page unless Shapeways agreee to the comment... my reasoning, the customer is not buying from the designer, the customer is buying from Shapeways.

Did we ever find out whether @mentions are supposed to work in the forums? Experience would tend to suggest not, which is a shame.

If the only place an @mention can be used is by leaving a comment on a design then does not the Contact Designer button cover this. Plus, to leave a comment you must be logged in, so only existing SW users can use the service, not casual browsers.